З життя
Ночной спор и утренняя усмешка кота
Кот дремал рядом с супругой. Уткнувшись в неё спиной, он отпихивал меня всеми лапами. Утром же смотрел нагло, будто насмехаясь. Я ворчал, но поделать ничего не мог. Любимец, дескать. Ну пушистик, ну золотце. Жена смеялась, а мне вовсе не до шуток.
Этому «золотцу» жарили осетра, аккуратно вынимали кости, а хрустящую кожицу складывали горкой рядом с дымящимися кусочками на его тарелке.
Кот щурился, кривя морду в ухмылке, будто говорил:
«Ты здесь никто, а истинный хозяин — я».
Мне же доставались объедки, которые не пришлись по вкусу наглецу. Короче, издевался он знатно. Я отвечал тем же: то тарелку отодвину, то с дивана столкну. Война — да и только.
Порой в мои тапки «закладывали сюрпризы». А супруга хохотала:
— Сам виноват, не трожь его!
И гладила своего ненаглядного. Кот же взирал на меня свысока. Я лишь вздыхал. Что поделаешь? Жена одна — спорить бесполезно. Приходилось терпеть.
Но в то утро…
Собираясь на работу, я услышал из прихожей вопль жены. Ворвавшись, увидел картину: шестикилограммовый комок шерсти с когтями, словно разъярённый медведь, бросался на неё.
Увидев меня, зверь вскочил на грудь, сбив с ног. Вскочив, я схватил табуретку как щит, оттащил супругу в спальню. Кот ударился о ножку стула, взвизгнув оглушительно.
Но это его не остановило. Он рвался к двери, пока мы не захлопнули её. Обрабатывая йодом царапины, мы слышали за дверью злобное шипение.
Жена звонила на работу, объясняя, что кот взбесился и нам срочно в травмпункт. Я, повторяя её слова начальнику, вдруг…
Вдруг стены содрогнулись. На кухне выбило стёкла, в ванной треснуло зеркало. Телефон выпал из рук. Тишина. Забыв про кота, мы рванули на кухню — за окном зияла воронка.
На месте соседского газели с газовыми баллонами — груда металла. Машины на стоянке перевёрнуты, словно брошенные игрушки. Вдали завывали сирены.
Ошеломлённые, мы обернулись к коту. Он сидел в углу, прижимая сломанную лапу и тихо скуля.
Жена вскрикнула, подхватив его. Я схватил ключи — и мы понеслись вниз по лестнице, не считая этажей.
Простите пострадавших от взрыва, но наш раненый был важнее.
Машина за домом чудом уцелела. Мчались к ветклинике, сердце сжималось от тревоги.
Через час супруга вышла с забинтованным питомцем. Ожидавшие приёма, узнав историю, наперебой гладили героя.
Дома жена приготовила осетра, отделив кости и хрустящую корочку. Мне — остатки.
Кот, припадая на лапу, подошёл к миске. Попытка презрительно щуриться вышла жалобной гримасой.
Я быстро доел, положив свой кусок в его тарелку.
Он уставился на меня, недоумённо мяукнув.
Взяв его на руки, я прошептал:
— Может, я и лузер. Но с такими — самыми родными — я богаче всех.
Чмокнул в лоб. Он буркнул, ткнувшись мордой в щёку.
Поставив его есть, мы с женой обнялись, глядя, как он хромает к миске.
Теперь кот спит только со мной. Заглядывая в глаза, я молюсь, чтобы Господь подарил нам долгие годы вместе.
Больше ничего не нужно.
Честное слово.
Ведь настоящее счастье — именно такое.
My Husband Invited His Ex-Wife Over for the Sake of the Children—So I Celebrated My Freedom in a Hotel Instead
Husband invited his ex-wife for the kids, so I spent the celebration at a hotel Where are you planning to...
My Husband Compared Me to His Friend’s Wife at the Dinner Table—And Ended Up with a Bowl of Salad in His Lap
“You’ve brought out this dinner set again? I told you I wanted the fancy one with the gold rim, the...
Yesterday: The Feast, the Critique, and the Great Brotherly Showdown Over Galina’s Handmade Roast and Her Patiently Worn Apron in a London Flat
Yesterday “Where are you putting that salad bowl? Youre blocking the cold cuts! And move the glasses, would you? Olivers...
My Husband Compared Me to His Friend’s Wife at the Dinner Table—And Ended Up with a Bowl of Salad in His Lap
“You’ve brought out this dinner set again? I told you I wanted the fancy one with the gold rim, the...
Why Does It Matter Who Looked After Gran? By Law, That Flat Should Be Mine! — My Mum Argues With Me Over My Grandmother’s Home My Own Mother is Threatening to Sue Me — All Because My Gran’s Flat Went Not to Her, or Even to Me, But to My Daughter. Mum Claims It’s Unfair, Insists the Flat Should Be Hers. But Gran Made a Different Choice. Why? Perhaps Because My Husband and I Lived With Her and Cared for Her Those Last Five Years. You Could Easily Call My Mum Selfish — Her Needs Were Always Far More Important Than Anyone Else’s. Mum’s Been Married Three Times, But Only Had Two Daughters: My Younger Sister and Me. We Get On Brilliantly, But Neither of Us Has a Great Relationship With Mum. I Don’t Even Remember My Dad — He Split From Mum When I Was Two. Up Until I Was Six, I Lived With Mum at Gran’s. For Some Reason, I Thought Gran Was Awful — Probably Because Mum Was Always Crying. Only When I Grew Up Did I Understand: Gran Was Good, She Just Wanted to Help Her Daughter Make a Better Life. Later, Mum Married Again and We All Moved In With My Stepfather. That’s When My Sister Was Born. But After Seven Years, Mum Got Divorced Again. This Time, We Didn’t Go Back to Gran’s. Stepfather Went Off to Work and Let Us Stay in His Flat for a Bit. Three Years Later, Mum Married Husband Number Three and We Moved In With Him. He Wasn’t Pleased Mum Had Children, Though He Never Hurt Us — He Just Ignored Us. So Did Mum. She Was Obsessed With Her New Husband, Always Jealous, Always Causing Rows and Breaking Crockery. Once a Month Mum Would Start Packing, But Stepfather Always Talked Her Round. My Sister and I Got Used to It and Stopped Noticing. I Ended Up Looking After My Sister — Mum Didn’t Have the Time. Thank Goodness for Our Grandmothers, Who Helped Us So Much. Eventually, I Left for University, and My Sister Moved In With Gran. Our Dad Always Supported Her; Mum Would Call Us Only at Christmas. I Accepted Mum For Who She Was and Stopped Expecting Her to Care, But My Sister Never Did. She Was Always Hurt, Especially When Mum Skipped Her School Leavers’ Party. We Grew Up. My Sister Got Married and Moved Away. I Was Living With My Long-Term Boyfriend; We Visited Gran Often and Stayed Close, Though I Tried Not to Be a Nuisance. When Gran Fell Ill and Went Into Hospital, I Visited Every Day: Shopping, Cooking, Cleaning, Chatting, Making Sure She Took Her Medicine. Sometimes My Boyfriend Helped Out Too. After Six Months, Gran Suggested We Move In to Save for Our Own Place, So We Did. Six Months Later, I Was Pregnant. We Got Married, Had a Simple Family Do — Mum Didn’t Come, Not Even a Phone Call. When My Daughter Was Two Months Old, Gran Broke Her Leg. Caring for Both Was Hard and I Desperately Needed Mum’s Help, But She Refused, Saying She Wasn’t Well and Would Come Later. She Never Did. Six Months On, Gran Had a Stroke and Was Bedridden. If Not for My Husband, I Don’t Know How I’d Have Coped. Gran Slowly Improved, She Even Got to See Her Great-Granddaughter Take Her First Steps, and Lived Another Two-and-a-Half Years. She Passed Away Peacefully in Her Sleep. My Husband and I Were Devastated By Her Loss. Mum Only Came for the Funeral. A Month Later, She Tried to Evict Me So She Could Have the Flat. Mum Hadn’t Realised Gran Had Left It to My Daughter Right After She Was Born. Naturally Mum Was Furious, Demanding I Give Up the Flat or She’d Sue Me. “Look How Deceitful You Are! You Duped the Old Woman, Took Her Flat, And Now You Live In It Yourself! You Won’t Get Away With This! It Doesn’t Matter Who Looked After Gran — That Flat Should Be Mine!” But Mum Won’t Get That Flat, I Know That for Certain. I’ve Spoken to a Solicitor and a Notary. We’ll Stay in the Home Gran Gave Us, and If Our Second Child Is a Girl, She’ll Be Named After Gran.
What matter is it who cared for Grandmother? By rights, the house ought to be mine! My mothers voice, strident...
Relatives Demanded My Bedroom for the Holidays and Left Empty-Handed: How I Refused Pushy Family, Set Boundaries, and Saved My Peace of Mind in London
Where on earth am I supposed to put this massive bowl of jellied beef? Theres no space at all in...
How My Husband Secretly Supported His Mother While I Had Nothing to Dress Our Child In
10 March Lately, Ive been feeling as though the weight of the world rests on my shoulders. Laura and I...
Mother-in-Law Sneakily Stuffed Her Bag with Gourmet Treats from My Fridge Before Leaving
Mother-in-law slipped the delicacies from my fridge into her bag before heading out It must have happened nearly twenty years...